PFINGSTEN: Warriors rugby defends its national crown

If the 2011 national championships in Utah were a big stage for the girls from Fallbrook High School, last week at Stanford University brought an even more significant moment.

On the morning of Saturday, May 12, most folks in Fallbrook had no idea that the Warriors rugby team ---- ranked as the nation's top girls squad by Rugby Magazine in January ---- were taking the field to defend what is perhaps the only national team sports title in the high school's 119-year history.

By the following afternoon, the Warriors had done it, dominating a team from Ohio 54-12 on their way to their second consecutive national championship ---- the first school to capture back-to-back titles in the history of the tournament.

On Tuesday, Warriors rugby coach Marin Pinnell recalled the moment when she realized she would be able to call her team "two-time national champions."

"There were five minutes left in the final," said Pinnell. "Most of my starters had come off and we were putting the subs in. Karmin Macedo, my scrumhalf, was standing on the sidelines with me and I said to her, ‘Oh my gosh, we're going to win another final! This is crazy.'

"She turns to me and says, 'The game is not over until the final whistle,' " Pinnell recalled with a laugh. "They're really excited. You know, they put a lot of work in. They had a lot pressure at the beginning of the season to keep up with last year's team."

During the national tournament in Sandy, Utah, a year ago, that squad rose to the top and beat the Amazons, a team from Sacramento, 60-0 after an undefeated season.

Then 10 of the team's starting players graduated.

Pinnell said she and the two other coaches ---- her husband, Craig, and Paul Bell ---- trained especially hard with the younger 2011-12 team beginning last fall in order to keep its place at the top of the national standings.

Fallbrook fields three teams, including an "Under-14" middle school team and the "Under-19" bracket where the high school seniors play. A week before the national tournament in the Bay Area, Fallbrook swept the Southern California tournament, taking first place in all three age categories.

"Between our three teams, we had 45 girls, and every single girl got playing time," Pinnell said of the regional competition.

"After we won the SoCal championships on May 5, I think we were putting too much pressure on them," she continued. "We said, 'Let's have fun, let's go to nationals and see where you place.' We just wanted them to play rugby as they know it ---- to play together and have fun as a team. That was the key to their success. It was just a lot easier for them to have fun."

As any teenager will attest, winning is fun.

Winning the second national championship in two years is the best kind of fun, but it is also something more ---- it's a cause for our community to rally around these nationally respected athletes, Fallbrook kids, our own.

The 2012-13 season kicks off in December, and Pinnell has told me on numerous occasions that the team would love to see more fans in the bleachers.

The Warriors leave for one last tournament in Philadelphia on May 31, after which the Pinnells will be spending the summer in South Africa, where Craig Pinnell grew up.

As for the players, it's time for an offseason, said Marin Pinnell.

"Really, we've been going since September, so they need a break," she said. "We're just going to let them be teenagers for a bit."